Tamil Nadu exits; MP, Mumbai enter quarter-finals

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Tamil Nadu ended its campaign in this year’s Ranji Trophy tournament by losing its final Group “C” match to Baroda by 102 runs.

Swapnil K Singh

Vadodara:

Requiring 233 for a win, the visiting team was all out for 130 in 65.5 overs on the final day on Tuesday. Baba Aparajith was the only one to offer resistance, scoring 60. For Baroda, LukmanMeriwala and all-rounder Swapnil K Singh took four wickets each. Tamil Nadu thus finished the Ranji season with 11 points from six games, having failed to win even one match.

It was an abject surrender by the Tamil Nadu batsmen on the final day as none showed the inclination to fight. Meriwala ripped the Tamil Nadu top-order apart, removing captain Abhinav Mukund, N Jagadeesan and B Indrajith to leave them tottering at 16 for 3. It was downhill for TN as wickets kept falling at regular intervals with only Aparajith and V Yo Mahesh (23) hanging on for a significant period.

Madhya Pradesh, which outclassed Odisha in another game at Indore by seven wickets, qualified for the quarterfinals along with Mumbai. MP’s win knocked out Andhra Pradesh, which finished with 19 points.